“No,” she says just as quietly, shaking her head back and forth while looking down at her lap. Timid. Shy. Pained. Her slender fingers slide across the console and grip my forearm. “There is something wrong that I can’t put my finger on but she’s been off since just before prom.”
“Probably because she was trying to hide the fact that she was screwing Tyson behind my back.”
“Maybe. Maybe it’s something else? I don’t know but I wish… I guess I wish things were different.”
I sigh and relax into my seat. Still driving. Letting the purr of the engine and low music coming through the speakers calm me. “Me, too.”
We’ve been driving around for a couple hours, letting the music coming through the speakers speak for us when Addy’s phone rings again. She reaches down for it, flipping it open and sighing heavily. This time answering, “Hi, Mom.”
I glance over at the clock and wince when I realize it’s way past her curfew. She squeezes my arm and I bite back a laugh when her eyes widen comically.
“Sorry, sorry. I know. It’s late.” She pauses as her mom no doubt yells on the other end. Suzie’s a single mom and incredibly protective. “I’m with Beau. Something happened tonight and we’re just driving around.” Another pause and she looks at me, our eyes meeting for a second before I turn my attention back on the gravel road before us. “Okay. Yeah. I get it, Mom. I promise I’ll be home soon.” She hangs up and places it back in the cupholder.
“Mama Suzie on a war path?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s pissed.” She laughs and makes an eek face. “But when I told her who I was with she seemed to relax. I’ll be grounded for sure but whatever.”
“I’m sorry. My bad. I’ll get you home,” I tell her but make no move to change the direction of the pickup. Continuing down the quiet dusty gravel road, past old farmhouses and barns. I love driving these back roads. I’ve always felt more at home surrounded by nothingness.
“No!” she shouts and I chuckle at her outburst. “No. She said I could stay out another hour.”
I turn right and glance at Addy. “Suzie’s being generous tonight?”
“Apparently,” she murmurs.
We drive in silence until it’s time to bring her home. Neither of us needing to speak. Content to think and move forward from the shit storm that occurred tonight.
I pull into Addy’s driveway and park.
“Thank you, Addy.”
“You’re welcome, Beau. You know I’m always here for you.”
“I know. Besides my family and Tyson, you’ve been the only constant in my life. I can’t wrap my head around this.” And that’s the bitch of it. Most of my favorite childhood memories revolved around Tyson and Addy. For a long time, it was the three of us. Then Lizzy came along.
She shifts so her knee is resting against the back of the seat. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
“I’m not surprised about him, either.”
“Why?” I ask her, voice calm despite the fact that I’m angrier than I’ve ever been.
“I always got this feeling that he was jealous of you.”
“Of me? Why? He’s got everything.”
She shakes her head. “No. He doesn’t. He doesn’t have this,” she says quietly as she places a hand over my heart. “You have the best heart of anyone I’ve ever met, Beau Aikin.”
“No, I don’t. I’m like a live wire, always looking for a fight. At least, that’s what the principal reminded my parents of any chance he got.”
“You were never looking for a fight. You were always standing up for someone. You just chose to use your hands to get your point across instead of words.”
There’s major truth to that statement but still, Tyson has had everything a teenage boy could dream of his entire life. Always the best clothes and shoes, vacations all over the world, a brand new truck when he turned sixteen, always the latest video games. His grades might not have been straight A’s but he managed B’s and C’s just fine. In every sport he played, he was the star of the team. An endless string of girls trailed after him.
“He had everything. Why did he have to take what was mine?”
“No. He didn’t. His parents might have a ton of money and he might be a great athlete, but none of that matters if what’s inside is filled with resentment.”
“Who does he resent?”
She gives me a pointed look and then points at me.
I pull a face and shake my head. “What does he have to resent me for? That makes no sense, Addy.”
“If you think about it, it’ll come to you.” She starts to climb out but I stop her.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s one thing you always had that he wanted. Even if you didn’t know you had it, it’s been yours all along.”
“Huh?”
“Get some sleep, Beau. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She jumps down out of my pickup and moves to shut the door.
“Addy, wait.”
“What is it?” she asks, turning to face me.
“Thank you, again. For being there for me.”
“Always, Beau. Always.”
The Path To Us is available now for download:
The Path To Us: A Friends-to-Lovers Single Parent Romance
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Without You: A Friends-to-Lovers Small Town Romance Page 26